Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $43.99 and last traded at $43.1070, with a volume of 129 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $43.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SCHL shares. Zacks Research cut Scholastic from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scholastic presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

Scholastic Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $919.64 million, a P/E ratio of 17.42 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.06.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.22. Scholastic had a return on equity of 2.47% and a net margin of 3.88%.The business had revenue of $329.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.53 million. As a group, analysts expect that Scholastic Corporation will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Scholastic’s payout ratio is 32.26%.

Scholastic announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, March 20th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 23% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scholastic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SCHL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Scholastic by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,593,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,230,000 after purchasing an additional 59,017 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Scholastic by 879.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,159,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,741,000 after buying an additional 1,040,880 shares in the last quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP increased its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 797,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,641,000 after acquiring an additional 31,427 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Scholastic by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 739,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,244,000 after purchasing an additional 44,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bragg Financial Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Scholastic by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 668,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,820,000 after buying an additional 76,801 shares during the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scholastic Company Profile

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is a global company dedicated to children’s publishing, education technology and distribution services. The company’s core business encompasses three primary segments: Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution, Education Technology, and International operations. Through its publishing arm, Scholastic produces and distributes a wide range of children’s books, novels, nonfiction titles and classroom magazines under well-known imprints such as Scholastic Press, Graphix and Chicken House.